Biggest draft miss since Marino?

2018 - Terrell Edmunds

Decent box safety, but my God what they left on the board considering what they needed.

The Steelers' needs heading into that draft were safety, ILB after Shazier's injury, RB with no intention of signing Bell long term, and QB of the future.

They reach for a SPARQy box safety from Tomlin's home town because that's what they do. Other options on the board, starting with the most glaringly obvious considering they took a safety:

Jessie Bates -- Best FS in the game right now, would have obviated the need for Minkah and saved the draft capital used to get him. How would this team look with Justin Jefferson and JK Dobbins?

Darius Leonard -- Outstanding ILB who would have stepped in for Shazier immediately and obviated the need for Bush, again saving the draft capital used to acquire him. Would have saved them from spinning their tires on guys like Bostic and Barron, too.

Nick Chubb -- Would have allowed them to send Bell packing and they'd have a superstar RB on a rookie deal.

Lamar Jackson -- League MVP in his 2nd season, would have allowed them to move on from Ben, or at least run Slash/Taysom Hill packages while Ben declined. Could have then picked Sam Hubbard, Orlando Brown, or Mark Andrews with the Mason Rudolph pick.

Like the Marino miss, this one truly changed the course of the franchise for years.

 

There was a cornerback from OSU that might just compete with that pick

 

Hated the Edmunds pick at the time and still hate it. Tomlin seems to have this obsession with Jack of all trades players. Rather than take a guy who is a master at his craft, he wants these hybrid type players that don't seem particularly great at anything.

Tomlin obviously has an idea of what he wants his defence to look like, but it took him 9 years to build it, and in that time, our QB got old and our offence now sucks.

 

DBs drafted: Edmunds, Burns, Davis, Layne, Sutton

DBs acquired: Hilton, Minkah, Nelson, Haden

Whoever is in charge of scouting/drafting DBs needs to be replaced.

 

Fwiw I don’t think Lamar Jackson would most likely not have developed in the same way here than he did in Baltimore. They took a gamble and built the offense on his shoulders - no way RF does that while Ben is still about.

In terms of our first round needs, we were desperate for a SS or an ILB. So while all bar Leonard were on the board, they weren’t all options. Chubb, for example, would have been great but not addressing SS or ILB in the first round would be madness.

Leonard would have been the better pick, no doubt.

 

The Edmunds pick was brutal, obvious then, obvious now. To be fair though, suggesting they would have hit on all those other players like that is a dream. No team drafts that perfectly.

 

The OP was a bit of hyperbole, but Edmunds was a terrible choice. Bringing up Bates seems like a bit of hindsight, but Leonard and Chubb were both legitimate first-round values who fit into the team's needs. Yes, running back was a much lower priority than safety, but Chubb was also far more likely to succeed. I've been saying for years that Leonard should have been the pick. That is inarguable among the sane. We are probably going to get some harsh reminders of that mistake tomorrow.

The worst part of it is there really is a chance the Steelers could have gotten Edmunds in the second round. It wouldn't have been a sure thing, but it was absolutely a reasonable possibility.

 

Hindsight is 20/20

 

Yes, but a large number of us on here were saying what a terrible pick it was when it was made. It's not that he's a bad player, but he had no business being a 1st round draft pick, not even a late 1st. Any Safety going in the 1st round better be damn special, and he wasn't. He had a ton of question marks coming out, including what position he could even play. Was he a FS, SS or LB? Again, your 1st round draft pick needs to be a master at his skill, not a utility man who can fill in for numerous positions.

Since Tomlin came here we have had numerous questions marks when drafting defensive players. We seem to reach for these guys that are athletically gifted but have question marks when it comes to football. It's like Tomlin thinks he can turn athletes into great football players. There's been way, way too many misses on defence ever since he got here, and he's a defensive coach.

While I know Colbert and Rooney is also involved in the draft, you gotta figure that Tomlin has the most input on what kinds of players he needs for his system to be successful

 

Biggest miss since Marino? Come on. Not one of those players you mentioned have had the type of impact that Marino had in his career.

 

Marino did what?

 

That is how I reacted when reading the opening of the thread. Furthermore, there was and still is zero guarantee that Darius Leonard, Lamar Jackson, Jessie Bates or even Nick Chubb would have ended up working out for the team. A better example of a player who is doing well elsewhere is Logan Thomas from the Washington Football Team.



For a time he was here but did not amount to much. Now look at him; a major weapon in the WFT Offense that could take the NFC East come Sunday. It is all about how well a player fits the scheme. Given how well Terrell Edmunds has played all season, namely as in the box to even being the Deep Centerfielder, I doubt even Jessie Bates would have been up to the task as Jessie is a pure Centerfielder to begin with.

 

I seem to remember Dupree being labeled a bust by many on here, so there may still be time.

 

Logan Thomas was with the Steelers?

Re Edmunds I didn’t like the pick either, he is a good player but he was over-drafted, no doubt about it. He will probably have a long career in the NFL but I doubt he gets a second contract in Pittsburgh unfortunately

 

They reached for Edmunds, but that was the year all the top ILBs were drafted ahead of their pick.

 

Weird.


Thought he was on our Preseason Team at one point. My mistake.

 

The trade for Minkah Fitzpatrick saw to Terrell not coming back... which is fine by me. While I do like Terrell, he simply is not on the same level as Minkah.

 

Yeah he probably won’t have his fifth year option taken up but they may offer him a lower deal and put the ball in his court. I would not mind him staying for the right $$ but I expect he will have better offers.

What do you see as being the big needs in 2021 draft? I think OLine and Corner should be their priority, followed by Tight End, they need depth everywhere obviously so BPA in each round but they need year one contributors in the areas above imo. I’m assuming Haden is in his last year for cap reasons, and Layne has not convinced anybody that he is ready to step in as a starter unfortunately.

 

OL and TE, Ebron and Vance could be gone next season.

 

Agreed on Offensive Line. Corner I would give second pause to. I still believe Justin Layne can be a viable starting Corner. Much like Terrell Edmunds, he needs some time. Unlike the infamous Artie Burns though, he has not been thrown into the fire nearly as much as I feared he would; a positive sign for his future prospects. Cam Sutton to me is the man you would likely have to re sign and, as a result, have Joe Haden jettisoned for Free Agency. Mike Hilton has to stay here as well but for how much?!


If anything, my current top three Steelers needs are as follows;



Offensive Tackle: Pair someone up with Chuks. Zach and Big Al are likely gone. If not Zach and Chuks goes, same methodology here. I would recommend Jalen Mayfield from the University of Michigan or Liam Eichenberg from the University of Notre Dame. Mayfield has the superior athleticism whereas Eichenberg possess greater experience.



Inside Linebacker: Bit of a gamble? Not really given the fact that UG3 cannot stay healthy and Vince is nearing the end of the line. Dylan Moses is still the top choice although Cameron McGrone from the University of Michigan would not shock me either.




Running Back: Najee Harris is the only option here. I am really not going into further specifics as to why he should be the choice here.



Honorable mention:



EDGE: I doubt that the team is going to give up on Alex Highsmith after one season. That said, someone like Jaelen Phillips, Jayson Oweh or even Carlos Basham Jr. would be solid fits. Can never have too many pass rushers right?!

 

No, they weren’t. The guy who was rated well ahead of Edmunds and earned All-Pro honors as a rookie was still available.

 

Agree with all of that but do not underestimate the need at corner. If they lose two (or god forbid all three) from Haden, Hilton and Sutton then I think you have to go CB relatively high in the draft

 

Steelers have no luck drafting cbs.

 

I did say give second pause to. I never said that would change pending on this Off-Season. Way too many unknowns at present.



I am basing my current needs on what is known. Should the personnel change, so will the updates for what I believe the team needs.